NEWS

Top British university to open Johor campus

A TOP British university will open its first overseas campus in Johor's Iskandar Malaysia region next year, joining other foreign players who are setting up shop in an educational hub there.

Southampton University, noted for its engineering courses, will join Britain's Newcastle University and Marlborough College, and the Management Development Institute of Singapore.

They will all be located in EduCity in Nusajaya township just across the Second Link in Tuas. Iskandar Malaysia in southern Johor is a development region that forms part of a broader plan by the country to boost its economy.

The university's vice-chancellor, Professor Don Nutbeam, signed the agreement to build its campus in Johor yesterday with Datuk Syed Mohamed Syed Ibrahim, chief executive of Iskandar Investment, which coordinates projects in the Johor development corridor.

The University of Southampton Malaysia Campus (USMC) will accept its first batch of about 60 students in September next year.

According to Mr Khairil Anuar, chief executive of Education@Iskandar, Iskandar will build the 0.56ha campus for USMC, which will enter into a 12-year contract to lease the building.